{"id":26765,"date":"2024-02-14T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26765"},"modified":"2024-01-05T16:15:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T21:15:45","slug":"take-five-songs-on-the-road-to-elo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/14\/take-five-songs-on-the-road-to-elo\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Songs on the Road to ELO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Electric Light Orchestra\u2019s third studio album, <em>On the Third Day<\/em> was released in the U.S. just over a half century ago: on December 14, 1973. Featuring two minor U.S. hit singles (\u201cShowdown\u201d and \u201cMa-Ma-Ma-Belle\u201d) It would be the last of the group&#8217;s album\u2019s to \u201cbubble under,\u201d as ELO found major and growing success with each of its albums to follow.<\/p>\n<p>The story of ELO is a convoluted one: most of its members were Brummies (the colloquial term for those hailing from the Northern England industrial city of Birmingham) and had played together in other local-based groups. Here are five tracks that presage the music of Electric Light Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Nightriders \u2013 \u201cIt&#8217;s Only the Dog\u201d (1966)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe ELO story has its origins in a much earlier Birmingham group, Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders. Launched in 1963, in its early days the group featured lead guitarist Roy Wood. After the group failed to score major hits, both Sheridan and Wood left the group (with the latter forming The Move), but the band continued for a time with a new lead guitarist, Jeff Lynne. This single from 1966 would be the group\u2019s final release.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MsscoaqGtS8?si=52R5is9t8RjN_DP9\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Idle Race \u2013 \u201cImpostors of Life&#8217;s Magazine\u201d (1967)<\/strong><br \/>\nEncouraged by his friend Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne launched a new group after the demise of The Nightriders. The Idle Race\u2019s second single \u2013 a Lynne original released only in the UK \u2013 combined Who-like power with some of the baroque and psychedelic sounds then in fashion. The track would be featured on the essential 2001 boxed set compilation, <em>Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964\u20131969<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HIQ-9YnkbWs?si=_C5RnL6C7Udxow4z\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Denny Laine and the Electric String Band \u2013 \u201cAsk the People\u201d (1967)<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother Brummie, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/22\/denny-laine-mccartneys-wing-man-is-still-flying-part-one\/\">Denny Laine<\/a> had already found fame as lead singer of another local group, r&amp;b combo The Moody Blues. When the original lineup of that band split, Laine formed a group that included The Move\u2019s Trevor Burton and former Pretty Things drummer Viv Prince. With its melding of rock feel and classical instrumentation, the short-lived band hinted at the direction ELO would soon pursue, but released only two singles (credited to Laine) before dissolving.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o5ceS0QotaE?si=2lZH60vu5sVejVUv\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Balls &#8211; \u201cFight for My Country\u201d (1970)<\/strong><br \/>\nLaine\u2019s next project was the unfortunately-named Balls, a group that again featured him and Burton, plus Steve Gibbons (soon to join a late-period Idle Race) Richard Tandy (later of ELO), <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/17\/yes-drummer-alan-white-on-yes-past-present-and-future\/\">Alan White<\/a> (later of Yes) and former Apple Records recording artist Jackie Lomax. The group managed only two songs before splitting; Laine went on to <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/11\/29\/dvd-review-ginger-bakers-airforce-live-1970\/\">Ginger Baker\u2019s Air Force<\/a> and then \u2013 most famously \u2013 to Paul McCartney and Wings.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bXRkZaqiAQg?si=LusuEe57wh-hGdmM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Move \u2013 \u201cCalifornia Man\u201d (1972)<\/strong><br \/>\nJeff Lynne joined The Move in 1969. The last single released by the group during its time together, \u201cCalifornia Man\u201d showcased Wood\u2019s and Lynne\u2019s love of classic \u201850s rock and roll. By this point, the two (with Move drummer Bev Bevan) had already devised a musical side project, ELO. Designed to pick up where the Beatles left off with <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em>, that ambitious group would utilize classical instruments but retain a rock foundation. Wood would leave ELO after one album to form Wizzard, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/02\/take-5-roy-wood\/\">but that\u2019s another story<\/a>. Meanwhile, \u201cCalifornia Man\u201d would go on to become a favorite song of American rockers Cheap Trick; they featured their version on their 1978 LP <em>Heaven Tonight<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mQEPYfXWWnI?si=DhX2l9snh_SGVFYh\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Electric Light Orchestra\u2019s third studio album, On the Third Day was released in the U.S. just over a half century ago: on December 14, 1973. Featuring two minor U.S. hit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[756],"class_list":["post-26765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-electric-light-orchestra","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26767,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26765\/revisions\/26767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}